Archive for August, 2005

IC has by far been one of the greatest experiences of my life – and we’re only on day 2 right now! i thought after all i had heard about IC 2004, this one would probably not live up to my high expectations – but it’s been so much better than i ever thought it would be.

right from the people to the atmosphere (food even, who thought conference food could be good!) IC has been amazing.

we reached agra on the morning of the 27th – the cc transported us here by bus, which left delhi in the middle of the night. as soon as we got here we were told that we needed to change, attend opening ceremony and leave for global village – all without a room! so we all changed in tori and russell’s rooms. opening ceremony was awesome! beginning with parthiv’s speech to salman ahmad’s amazing performance, i don’t think i can ever experience a more powerful moment in my life!

global village followed, where i got to try out all sorts of weird games that the south east asian countries had brought along with them – including this weird bubble making thing which was totally cool! and totally un-do-able! that was day 0, and right now we’re on day 2! i can’t believe this is my 3rd day in agra!

for those wondering, i haven’t gone to the taj mahal yet! i saw it from where our global village was being held as that was really close to it, and it looks nice but i might skip its tour. just got out of a session, which we all spent discussing aiesec 2010 and making figurines out of modelling clay! am going to go back to sessions now and later tonight we have africa night! which should be loads of fun!

We’ve always heard that music crosses all boundaries. This month, the celebrated Indian band, Euphoria and the internationally acclaimed Pakistani band, Junoon, take strong steps towards peace by playing together in an encore performance.

The event will take place at the AIESEC 57th International Congress in Agra, India, with over 500 students from over 80 countries in attendance.

AIESEC, the world’s largest student organization, is no stranger to world peace. In fact, that was one of the founding premises on which the organization was born in 1948 (i.e. after the Second World War). Seven students from seven European countries decided that something needed to be done to develop ‘friendly relations’ between member countries and therefore developed an exchange program that allowed for students to live and work in other countries to break local mindsets while expanding their own global network.

In wake of the renewed ties between India and Pakistan, both countries are experiencing an exchange of artists, more cultural and musical programmes. The last time Junoon performed in India it was in aid of the Earthquake victims of Gujarat. Commenting on Indo-Pak relations Salman Ahmed (Lead singer, Junoon) said, “This is like building a wall between people. The lesser people see the other side, the greater is the fear that sets in. We need to dispel these fears.’’ (Salman has in fact written to the Indian and Pakistani governments, requesting permission for a Peace Concert at the LoC (Line of Control).) When India and Pakistan previously performed together, Dr. Palash Sen lead singer of Euphoria was heard lambasting, “ Pakistan Zindabad, Hindustan Zindabad; Jai Hind, Jai Pakistan’’.Furthermore, as Salman Ahmed, very rightly, said, ‘‘It is the young who hold hope for the two nations and we wish to work with them to propagate peace.”AIESEC’s International Congress, held August 27 to September 5 in Agra, India, is an example of these ‘friendly relations’ that will see students from across the world interacting in seminars and workshops focusing on issues such as energy, education, HIV/AIDS, finance and corporate social responsibility. AIESEC will be focusing on these issues on a global level and the workshops at this conference will give AIESEC’s members the knowledge and skills to do so.

Today, AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential. AIESEC’s exchange program has evolved dramatically since its beginning and last year gave 4,000 students and recent graduates the opportunity to live and work abroad. Our membership has grown to 26,000 over 90 countries. The International Congress was held last year in Hanover, Germany and will be held next year in Poland. These are just one of over 350 conferences held each year.